Amerks Call Up Expected, Booth Taken Down Again by Hit

David Booth appears to have a target on his head this season. On Thursday night against the Montreal Canadiens the Panthers forward David Booth was hit by Jaroslav Spacek and knocked to the ice. Booth layed on the ice for a bit and was then helped off by the trainer and a teammate. As a precaution he was taken to a local hospital in Montreal.

Booth had missed 45 games after a hit by Mike Richards on October 24th early in the season. The absence of Booth from the lineup for over half the season was probably one of the primary reasons for the poor season by the Cats.

The fact that he was so slow getting up and taken to the hospital, even if just for precautions, it likely means that the Amerks will lose a forward this weekend. That call up will likely go to Michal Repik or Jeff Taffe. With only nine games left and three big games this weekend this was the last thing the Amerks needed. Repik and Taffe are key to the teams offense.

Florida plays on Saturday in Ottawa. I suppose we’ll learn more tomorrow morning to see who the call goes to, again assuming Booth can’t play.

As for the hit by Spacek, I’m not sure he did anything wrong. I could be wrong, but from the video below it appears Booth is skating with his head down and Spacek stands up to him and but does not appear to raise his elbow. What’s Spacek supposed to do, move out of the way? Watch the video and make the call and let me know if you disagree.